NRA targets old ally Joe Manchin

The National Rifle Association is going after Sen. Joe Manchin in a new 30-second ad.

The ad plays footage from one of Manchin’s 2010 campaign ads for senate, where the West Virginia Democrat boasts his NRA endorsement as he loads a rifle and shoots a copy of the cap and trade bill, while saying he’ll “protect our Second Amendment rights.”

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“That was Joe Manchin then. But now, Manchin is working with President Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg,” an announcer says. “Concerned? You should be. Tell Senator Manchin to honor his commitment to the Second Amendment and reject the Obama-Bloomberg gun control agenda.”

In a statement to POLITICO, Manchin defends the bill and said he is still ”the same proud gun owner and NRA member that I have always been.”

“The Washington NRA could spend one hundred million dollars on ads against me; it still won’t make what they say true. If they were honest with their members they would see that my bill not only protects 2nd Amendment rights, it enhances and strengthens them. Unfortunately, the NRA leadership in Washington has lost its way and is more concerned about political power than gun rights and gun safety,” Manchin continued. “I believe that criminal and mental background checks are a commonsense approach to protect our neighbors and children without infringing on our 2nd Amendment rights. I think most NRA members agree with me.”

Manchin has become a champion for gun control legislation, co-sponsoring a failed gun control bill that aimed to expand background checks for gun purchases. On Wednesday, he met with families of the victims of the Newtown, Conn. school shooting in his Capitol Hill office.

“I’ve been all over the state of West Virginia. There’s not a state I believe that cherishes its Second Amendment rights and has a gun culture more than our state, and yet I talk to my gun friends and all the people I shoot and hunt with, and they believe it makes sense,” he said of the background check measure according to CNN.